Comma-Man: A ShapeTales Movie
Comma-Man: A ShapeTales Movie is the first ShapeTales feature film. by Columbia Pictures Plot Jimmy and Little Johnny's Dad are driving Little Johnny Cylinder, Little Trixie, Annie, and Percy Rectangle to a concert hosted by kids' singer, Twippo. Little Trixie, who has won a contest to see Twippo backstage, keeps bragging to her friends about how she won and teases them. Jimmy has become very frustrated on finding a route to the concert and with Little Johnny's Dad in his way, singing songs and playing his guitar instead of helping him with the map. On the way, Jimmy clumsily hits a bump and makes Little Trixie accidentally lose her Twippo ticket and runs into a family of porcupines in which they pop out the tires. They crash down a hill and become lost. As everyone gets out of the van, they see a seafood restaurant. They head to the restaurant to call a tow truck and grab a bite to eat. They are greeted and are given a table by the French Rectangles. Jimmy angrily blames Little Johnny's Dad for making the van lose control in the forest. After Little Johnny furiously blames Little Trixie for losing her ticket, he goes to sit down and is greeted by The Emotions Who Don't Do Nothing. They tell him that what he said to Little Trixie was really mean and show a little compassion. To illustrate, they begin to tell all the Shapes a story. Comma-Man (Fear) is a Prophet from Israel who goes from town to town delivering Circle's messages. One day, Circle asks him to leave Israel and deliver a message to Nineveh, a rough and dangerous city in Assyria. Angelo panics and tries to flee from the Lord. He goes to his travel agent, Angus (Scooter), who tells him that the farthest he can get from Nineveh is Tarshish. When he spies the Pirates in the harbor, he asks them to take him to Tarshish. They resist, but Comma-Man convinces them by paying them. On the way to Tarshish, a guilt-stricken Comma-Man goes below deck to rest. There, he meets Khalil the Caterpillar, a traveling Persian rug salesman, who rants about how great Comma-Man is and decides to travel with him. After having a bad dream about running from Circle, Comma-Man finds the ship beset by a great storm. Captain Pa Circle concludes that the storm has been sent because Circle is angry at someone on the ship. They all play Go Fish to determine who it is. Comma-Man loses the game and admits that he is running from Circle. Luckily, First Mate Rick has an outboard motor, which they can use to return to Joppa, but Khalil accidentally sends it overboard and Comma-Man is forced to walk the plank. With Comma-Man off the ship, the skies clear immediately. The Emotions attempt to reel him back in, but a whale swallows Comma-Man (with the lifebelt attached to him). The Emotions fire their cannon at the whale but are forced to use a bowling ball (with Khalil inside it) as ammo. The whale merely swallows the ball, disgorges the lifebelt, and swims away. Inside the belly of the whale, Khalil finds Comma-Man saddened that he is going to die for disobeying Circle, but they are visited by a host of Circle's messengers. They explain through a rousing number that if Angelo repents, then Circle will grant him a second chance too. He and Khalil are spit up onto the shore and are met by Comma-Man's camel Reginald. Together, they ride to Nineveh. After Angelo is denied entrance to the city, the Emotions Who Don't Do Nothing appear. They explain that they spent all the money Comma-Man gave them on Mr. Twisty's Twisted Cheese Curls and won a sweepstakes, giving them free access to Ninevah where the Cheese Curls are produced. They sneak Angelo into the city disguised as winners of the sweepstakes, thought they are all promptly arrested for Alvin's theft of the King's personal Cheese Twists. After sentenced to death by "the Fish Slap of No Return", they are granted an audience with King Twistomer (Apollo Octagon). When King Twistomer hears that Angelo has survived in the belly of a whale, he listens to his message. Comma-Man delivers the message given to him by Circle. He tells them they should repent and amend their ways, or Nineveh will be destroyed. King Twistomer and the Ninevites quickly repent. Still expecting the Ninevites to be destroyed, Comma-Man watches and waits from a distance. Khalil is disappointed in Angelo, and tries to explain to him that Circle is compassionate and merciful. But Angelo, feeling pathetic and self-important, can't accept that. The story ends with Khalil and Reginald leaving Comma-Man alone on a cliff overlooking the city. Back in the present day, the Shapes are disappointed in the anticlimactic ending but come to understand the point of the story - that Circle wants everybody to show compassion and mercy, even to those that don't seem to deserve it. Twippo (also Fear) appears in the restaurant unexpectedly and offers to give everybody a lift to the concert, while Jimmy forgives Little Johnny's Dad and Little Johnny gives his Twippo ticket to Little Trixie. The film ends with a grand musical number and the arrival of the tow truck driver (Khalil), whom Twippo seems to recognize. Fun Facts Moral *Everybody deserves a second chance. Trivia *According to some concept art in the behind the scenes feature on the DVD, the whale was going to have a scary look. It was then changed to what it looks like now to prevent scaring children. *There were a few differences between the trailers and final version: **The lines from the teaser are retained, but done in a different manner. **Comma-Man screaming after being blown from the whale was absent. **Khalil screaming, and his line "What a trip!" was absent. *In the early draft of the script, Pa Circle was going to be the king of Ninevah. Because he would have duel roles as the Captain Pa and king of Ninevah, the writers went back in the script to change the role of the king. *Moby Blasters, the arcade game featured in the beginning of the restaurant scene, would actually be made into an online game for Big World's now defunct official website. *This is the last ShapeTales production for Gail Freeman to be part of the voice cast. Inside References *The van that Jimmy drives was first used as a background extra in QBT Alvin! and the Green One-Eyed Monster from Underwater! It was also modeled after a real van that Ron Smith drove during his early years at Big World. *Mr. Twisty's voice is actually Goliath's voice. Real World References *Alf was a American sitcom about a furry alien who stays with a middle class family after his ship crash-lands at their garage. *In the teasers, the narrator mentions "Jaws", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Free Willy". Category:ShapeTales